About 2,000 of its defenders are still in Russian captivity a year after the battle for the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, Ukraine. According to the Ukrinform agency, Natalka Zharika, the head of the organization that unites relatives of defenders of Mariupol called Women of Steel, said this. According to her, as part of the exchanges, approximately 500 personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who a year ago received an order from the army command to surrender to the invading forces at the plant, were able to return to their homeland.
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The Azovstal region was for a long time the last bastion of the Ukrainian defense of the main port city Photo: Alexander Ermoshenko | Source: Reuters
“Exactly a year ago – on May 16 – the Ukrainian soldiers who occupied their positions and defended Mariupol from the invaders for 86 days were ordered to stop defending Azovstal and lay down their arms,” she said on the social network. cable An organization called the Association of Families of Defenders of Azovstal.
At the same time, she demanded their release. According to the association, the fighters caught the attention of the Russian invasion forces, which allowed the Ukrainian army to regroup its forces and await the delivery of weapons from Western partners.
You are either a man or cattle, – describes the captured Ukrainian soldier from Azovstal Mykhailo Deanov.
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Between May 16 and 20 last year, 2,439 fighters left the Azovstal bunkers and ended up in Russian captivity, al-Khadim noted. Ukrainian justice. More than 1,900 Azovstal defenders, including about 700 members of the Azov Regiment, remain in captivity, according to the association that unites their families.
Zarycká of Women of Steel speaks of about 2,000 female defenders and notes that despite efforts, only 20 percent of female fighters have been repatriated within a year. According to her, conditions in Russian captivity are appalling, and Ukrainian soldiers face torture and starvation.
“Last September, there was a big exchange for the defenders of Azovstal. The soldiers who had been in captivity for four months returned. Everyone knows how they returned,” Zarika added, noting that many of the soldiers lost tens of kilograms and suffered various injuries and psychological trauma.
According to her, the fifteen prisoners released in May will suffer from health problems for the rest of their lives.
Article continues under Online Report.
The Russian invasion forces attacked the port of Mariupol in southern Ukraine in the early days of their invasion at the end of February last year.
The Azovstal region was for a long time the last bastion of the Ukrainian defense of the main port city. The remaining forces surrendered last May after incessant Russian attacks, and the area has been occupied by Russian invasion forces ever since.
# Azofstal in # Mariupol now
The place of Ukrainian resistance now looks like this.
For 86 days, Ukrainian troops defended the city. Almost three months of incredible bravery. Today, some of them are still in Russian captivity. We are waiting for them at home🇺🇦
13:15 – 16.05.2023
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